The Crosier

It is completely worth the 2 pounds admittance to see the beautiful quadrangle and chapel at New College of Oxford University in Oxford England.

There are some really incredible things to see. Even the small, winding street that lead to the front gate of the campus is charming. Despite the bike lane yellow lines and the tourist types wandering these small side streets you still feel immersed in the old world feel of the city.

The college is probably most well known for the Bridge of Sighs which crosses over New College Lane and connects two portions of Hertford College.


New College, which was founded by William of Wykeham in 1379, piqued my particular interests when I entered the chapel. Within the chapel is the crosier of William of Wykeham, who presided over New College as Bishop after it was as established. A crosier is the staff which the bishop carries and resembles a shepherd's cane that has fallen into a bucket of awesome and then adorned with some of the most rediculously heavy ornamentation and sharp edges. It is unlikely that any innocent little lamb would survive evisceration of the throat or spontaneous compustion upon contact with the surely magical item. I so incredibly wished I could have taken a photo of this thing but there was no photography permitted within the chapel of New College. Furthermore, despite all my faith in Google's infamous image search I was unable to turn up any photographs snapped by anyone, or even an adequate illustration. I am unsure why I am somewhat obsessed with this fancy man of God's crosier, but I have an overwhelming desire to share it with everyone. Unfortunately, this post falls short of its initial intention.

Check back later in the week for another update on my Oxford adventures!

The Kings Arms

I arrived in Oxford, England yesterday at about 8:30 local time (GMT) and was the first person to receive my room key, room 10 of The Kings Arms. I clumsily dragged my luggage through campus, eventually lifting it up three stories a very narrow staircase only to discover that I was in the wrong staircase. I lugged my things back down, found the proper staircase, and again oafishly managed my way up to my room while carrying the 70 lb checked luggage.

I thought being able to tell people that the dormitory I was staying in is called "The King's Arms" would be pretty diesel name for dormitory, but really was only understanding about half of the coolness of the situation. After some orientation meetings and dinner, myself and a couple of new friends set out on further exploration of the city in a nearly too late attempt to find a liquor store which was open on a Sunday evening. On the return we passed the "King's Arms" pub, which I had already new existed beneath my dormitory. I didn't, however, realize that my window was directly over the entrance to the pub!

My room is on the 3rd floor. That open window in the center of the building is mine, along with the window to the left of it.

This is where I'll be for pretty much the entire month of July.


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If you know of anything fun or interesting to do in the area please let me know.

Peace buddies.